Definition

Halo Effect

In performance appraisal, the problem that occurs when a supervisor’s rating of a subordinate on one trait biases the rating of that person on other traits. Experts define halo effect as “the influence of a rater’s general impression on ratings of specific rate qualities”. For example, supervisors often rate unfriendly employees lower on all traits, rather than just on “gets along well with others.” Being aware of this problem is a step toward avoiding it. Supervisory training can also alleviate the problem, as can using a BARS (on which, recall, the performance dimensions are usually quite independent of each other).

Halo Effect is in performance appraisal, the problem that occurs when a supervisor's rating of a subordinate on one trait biases the rating of that person on other traits.

In social psychology, the tendency to make a generalization in judging a person from one characteristic (usually positive)to a total impression is called halo effect.